It’s All About Load Management: A Tip To Improving Your Performance

What could be sabotaging your performance this season? Look in the mirror and you’ll know. Look into your own eyes and ask yourself, are you giving yourself enough time to improve the skills required to meet your performance goals?

It is a difficult question to ask yourself and more athletes should ask this question when they struggle to progress in a particular area they wish to address. I’d like to believe we all want to move pain free and with minimal risk of injury through strength and conditioning techniques.

Whether recovering from injuries or wanting to elevate your performance, there is order and progression to all exercise, neuromuscular control and ultimately performance. Which leads me to this tip on all exercise and performance.

“Your body has to learn how to manage loads to make any improvements in performance..”

Appreciable gains to your performance require progressively increased loads to your joints and muscles over a period of time. As you exercise, your brain is simultaneously discovering how to cope with the loads (resistance) being applied. Taking a minimum of 6-8 weeks, developing new strength, coordination, stability and mobility can take weeks to achieve and integrated into your sport. Longer if you are doing new or more dynamic routines.

During this time, receptors are relaying important information to your brain to improve your perception of touch, pressure, pain, temperature and joint position. All of this in an attempt to smooth your efficiency with speed, endurance and strength . Building these connections is a complex process that takes time to properly develop.

So if you notice minimal progress to those exercises to strengthen your shoulders or hips and your balance is no better than when you started those exercises you saw in a magazine article or online, you can be sure it’s not that you suck at them and give your brain and body more time. Time to establish and develop the connections.

Dedicating more time to improving skills may be the missing piece hindering many athletes and as always seek professional assistance from skilled strength and conditioning experts such as a Physical Therapist who can assist you on your journey.

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